A crude and unfunny spoof.

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January 11, 2013

Ever since Abbott and Costello spoofed monster flicks in the 1940’s, the parody film has delivered plenty of memorable movies. Blazing Saddles, Monty Python and The Holy Grail, and Airplane! made smart observations about film genres, mixed with some truly silly moments. These days, however, the spoof movie is sadly missing the element of satire.

Co-written by and starring Marlon Wayans, A Haunted House pokes fun at the subgenre of the found footage horror movie in the vein of Paranormal Activity, The Devil Inside, etc. These films seem perfect for spoofing, with their low-fi look and focus on demonic possession. Unfortunately, instead of trying to poke fun at the clichés within those films, A Haunted House goes for cheap laughs instead.

Wayans plays Malcolm, who is so excited that his girlfriend Kisha (Essence Atkins) is moving in, he decides to film everything. Not long after, strange things start to happen. Doors open by themselves, there are unexplained noises, and worse of all; Kisha and Malcolm’s sex life has stalled.

When Kisha finally admits that she has a demon who follows her from place to place, Malcolm calls in some help in the shape of a mildly racist ghostbuster (David Koechner), a gay psychic (Nick Swardson) and a just out of jail priest (Cedric the Entertainer) to exorcise the ghost once and for all.

If you’ve watched the trailer, you’ll know the focus is on fart jokes, sex and smoking pot with a ghost. To his credit, Wayans definitely does not hold anything back in his attempt to get a laugh, and Cedric the Entertainer brings a much-needed fresh energy to the final 20 minutes.

But none of that is particularly funny or very original, the characters are crude stereotypes, and the premise itself is not strong enough to keep an audience engaged for the full 90 minutes.

After his involvement with the Scary Movie franchise finished at No. 2, Wayans has been trying to distance himself from that series. But the jokes and the overall look of A Haunted House makes it feel like just another installment in a very tired franchise. (In fact, the trailer for Scary Movie 5 looks remarkably similar!)